Andrew Dudley Roe KFSM (born July 1974) is a former

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and firefighter currently serving as the

Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade The Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, previously known as the Chief Fire Officer until c. 2000, is the head of the London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the ca ...

Early life and education

Andy Roe grew up in London and graduated from

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

in 1995 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Career

In 1997, Roe was commissioned from the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

and joined the

12th Regiment Royal Artillery 12 Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the air defence role, and is equipped with the Starstreak missile. History The regiment was established in 1947 when the 7th Regimen ...

as a second lieutenant. During his time as an officer, he served as a troop commander and a battery captain and served two tours in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. During his time in Northern Ireland, he was wounded when a pipe bomb was thrown at him, which also severely injured an RUC officer stood next to Roe. The officer died after spending four weeks on a life support machine. As a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, he transferred his commission to the Army reserve in April 2000. In 2002, Roe joined the London Fire Brigade as a firefighter and in January 2017 was appointed as Assistant Commissioner. During the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a List of fires in high-rise buildings, high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of Public housing in the United Kingdom, flats in North Kensington, West London, England, at 00:54 British Summer Time, BST ...

, Roe was appointed incident commander where he revoked the controversial 'stay put' advice to the residents. As the first commissioner appointed since the fire, Roe issued a plea to the residents of London's 7,000 high rise blocks to set aside any 'post-Grenfell doubts continue to follow firefighters’ advice in the event of a blaze.' On 28 January 2020, Roe became the first LFB commissioner to sign the

Armed Forces Covenant The Military Covenant or Armed Forces Covenant is a term introduced in 2000 into British public life to refer to the mutual obligations between the United Kingdom and the British Armed Forces. According to ''The Guardian'', "it is an informal unde ...

with the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

. Roe was awarded the King's Fire Service Medal (KFSM) in the

2024 New Year Honours The 2024 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

Awards and honours

UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon

UK King Charles III Coronation Medal BAR

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roe, Andy 1974 births Living people Commissioners of the London Fire Brigade Royal Artillery officers Alumni of Newcastle University Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Recipients of the King's Fire Service Medal London Fire Brigade personnel

Early life and education

Career

Awards and honours

See also

References